My grandfather "Francis," who bore a striking resemblance to Colonel Sanders, though his son looked just like Dean Martin.Image courtesy of Maly Photo Archives

Though I never had the pleasure of meeting him, my maternal grandfather and I would have been great friends. A photographer and photo product printer by trade, he had an artistic nature, a quick wit and a gift for drinking dry Manhattans. When times were tough--which they often were--he did whatever was necessary to support his family, including working as a traveling salesman.

A prolific writer and dedicated family man, he survived those business trips by writing home at least once a day. Unbeknownst to me, one of his favorite media was the “big letter postcard” popularized by another Chicago-based printer, Curt Teich and Co., which was the inspiration for my most recent downtown display window.

With their bold, curving typeface, vivid colors and familiar “Greetings from …” format, Teich’s big letter postcards are classic examples of mid-century Americana--ironic, as Teich himself emigrated from Germany in 1896. The company printed versions for all 50 states and immortalized countless small towns that few Americans knew existed, which I imagine to be as exciting as finding my name on a key chain at a rest stop convenience store. (Something that has still never happened.)

"The Sunshine State": a big letter postcard from Teich's heyday.Image courtesy of thecavenderdiary.com

In addition to their hand-sketched artwork and linen-finish card stock, Curt Teich postcards were renowned for their distinctive colorways, which I feel were especially well-suited for representing southwestern panoramas. I may suffer from location bias, but I think Teich’s western state postcards are among his most beautiful…so I decided to create a modern version and use it as a backdrop for my spring/summer window.

With the help of the Interwebs, several Manhattans (thanks Grandpa) and a free Sunday, I produced a Teich postcard facsimile of my own to celebrate downtown Phoenix. In shamelessly-self-promotional fashion I populated it with images of Black Cat Vintage, Esoteric Audio (my husband’s retail audio store), and other attractions unique to my ‘hood. Then came the real challenge: set design.

My ranch motif concept required serious scenery and I chose saguaro cactus, which are only slightly less unwieldy than live cattle. Once again I created my own facsimile, this time using paint buckets, chicken wire and paper mache. Though I was abundantly pleased with the product, the process was less than pleasant and for hours my workroom looked like a Fraternity House after a food fight.

It takes a saguaro cactus 100 years to sprout an arm; it took me almost as long to make a fake one.Image courtesy of Black Cat Vintage

The last step was a fence made from discarded IKEA boxes, which was a piece of cake after last year’s construction of a curved, weight-bearing Venetian bridge using the same materials.

Our winter 2016 window display: I deserve an honorary degree in engineering for this bridge, made from discarded IKEA boxes.Image courtesy of Black Cat Vintage

Fortunately I had just the thing to dress my mannequin: an unworn denim Levi Ranch Wear jacket and dungaree ensemble from the early 1950s. One of the jewels of my collection, it is among the earliest examples of ﻿“Lady Levis”﻿ and the Levi’s Denim Family collection, which heralded denim’s arrival as a leisure—as opposed to strictly work wear—fabric.

I don’t know that I would have made Curt Teich proud, but I DO think my Grandpa would have bought a “Greetings from Downtown Phoenix” postcard if he had visited back in the day. And now you can too. The postcards are available for sale online here and in our downtown Phoenix pop up boutique.

I’m keeping the cactus.

Howdy Pardner! Our backdrop is available as a postcard you can send to hombres near and far.Image courtesy of Black Cat Vintage

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The Little Black Book thoughts about life, luxury and the pursuit of vintage fashion.

The author

Claudine Villardito is a vintage fashion historian, collector, conservator and cat whisperer living in Phoenix, Arizona. Her archive of over 3,000 fully restored vintage items from the 1850s to the early 2000s is sold online at blackcatvintage.com.

She began this blog because she got sick of people commenting that she should really write a book.